Proper 24
Devotional
Streams of Living Water
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle B
Object:
Job 38:1-7 (34-41)
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind ... Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
-- Job 38:1, 4a
With the exception of the opening scenes where we hear the conversation between God and Satan, God had not been an active part of the story of Job's wrestling with the issue of evil until now. While Job had declared his desire to question God directly, up until now we have only heard conversations about God among humans. That is the way it usually is for humans who seek to understand the reasons why things happen as they do in this universe. Then, suddenly, God spoke to Job out of the whirlwind. Despite all he had suffered, here was a sign of the favor with which God held Job. Still, God did not come to Job as a defendant who needed to answer Job's questions. God was still God. God was the one in charge of this conversation. "Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me," he said.
In one sense God responded to Job's question by revealing the vast complexity of creation and the impossibility of a human even beginning to comprehend the mystery of the universe. "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? ... Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb?" (vv. 4, 8). But, in another sense, God's very description of God's creative presence in every aspect of creation from the beginning of time provided a reassurance that despite Job's inability to understand the mystery of the universe, he could trust that there was one who did understand. God asked rhetorical questions such as "Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?" (v. 33). Behind those questions was the fact that there was one who did hold that power and that one had chosen out of freedom to address Job. The first part of our struggle to answer the question of why evil and suffering exist in this life is the belief that there is someone who is in charge and evil does not have free range.
Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35c
You set the earth on its foundations, so that it shall never be shaken.
-- Psalm 104:5
This psalm is a celebration of God as creator and provider for all of creation. The verses that we read celebrate the cosmic dimensions of God's creative care. Other verses celebrated how God had ordered this universe so that water was available for the wild animals and "plants for people to use to bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the human heart ..." (vv. 14-15). This was a rehearsal of the greatness of the creator and the care with which God had ordered the forces of this universe to provide for life in all its forms.
Sometimes we take the nature of our universe as a given and forget how intricately interwoven creation is. For the psalmist, a close observation of life around us cannot help but cause us to burst forth in a song of praise. "Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty, wrapped in light as with a garment" (vv. 1-2). It is so easy to become consumed by our immediate problems that we forget the grandeur of creation. This psalm, and others like it, could serve as a valuable reminder to the congregation of faith that we daily live in the presence of expressions of the majesty of God.
Creation is not immortal. It depends on God's sustaining care and our recognition of its giftedness. We daily live in need of offering our thanks to God. "O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures" (v. 24).
Hebrews 5:1-10
In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.
-- Hebrews 5:7
Unless the author is drawing upon traditions that have since been lost, he must be referring to Jesus' prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane prior to his arrest. Luke records that his anguish was so great that "sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground" (Luke 22:44). Yet, even in that anguish, he could both acknowledge his desire to escape the cross and his willingness to submit to the higher will of God.
Hebrews reported that "he was heard because of his reverent submission." The human Jesus achieved his purpose because he was willing to learn "obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him ..." (vv. 8-9). While it is natural to want to avoid suffering, as Jesus demonstrated through his prayers, it is through trusting God in the midst of suffering that one perfects one's faith. There is no evidence that Jesus sought out suffering as some noble pursuit, but it is clear that when suffering was thrust upon him, he did not turn away from God but rather sought to trust God in the midst of the experience.
Mark 10:35-45
You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.
-- Mark 10:42b-44
Jockeying for positions of prominence seemed to be a favorite pastime of the disciples, as Mark described it. Whether it is members or pastors, that game seems to be a continuing facet of church life. We never seem to be able to get this power thing right in the church. It is not as if Jesus was vague about how we should behave. Both by his words and by his actions we are clearly told that "... the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (v. 45). Each time Mark described Jesus as trying to prepare his disciples for his death and resurrection, they reacted by trying to maneuver for leadership positions. The first time in Mark 8:31 ff, after he told them of his coming fate, Peter immediately assumed the position of spokesman and tried to dissuade him of taking actions that would lead to his death. The next time he told them of his coming death in Mark 9:30 ff, the disciples reacted by arguing about who was the greatest. In Mark 10: 32 ff, he tells them for a third time, and immediately James and John approached him about securing positions of power in the coming kingdom.
The first time, Jesus tried to tell the disciples and the crowd that true discipleship did not mean positions of leadership but the willingness to take up your cross and forsake the normal pursuits of life. The second time, he tried to illustrate by taking a child among them and suggest that "whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all" (Mark 9:35). In this passage, he compares what they want to the tyrants among the pagan Gentiles. The continual struggle within the Christian community is not discovering the proper approach to attract new members but discovering the proper humility to become servants one of another.
Each time a person or a community imitates Jesus' ministry of servanthood, people are attracted to the community of faith.
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind ... Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
-- Job 38:1, 4a
With the exception of the opening scenes where we hear the conversation between God and Satan, God had not been an active part of the story of Job's wrestling with the issue of evil until now. While Job had declared his desire to question God directly, up until now we have only heard conversations about God among humans. That is the way it usually is for humans who seek to understand the reasons why things happen as they do in this universe. Then, suddenly, God spoke to Job out of the whirlwind. Despite all he had suffered, here was a sign of the favor with which God held Job. Still, God did not come to Job as a defendant who needed to answer Job's questions. God was still God. God was the one in charge of this conversation. "Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me," he said.
In one sense God responded to Job's question by revealing the vast complexity of creation and the impossibility of a human even beginning to comprehend the mystery of the universe. "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? ... Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb?" (vv. 4, 8). But, in another sense, God's very description of God's creative presence in every aspect of creation from the beginning of time provided a reassurance that despite Job's inability to understand the mystery of the universe, he could trust that there was one who did understand. God asked rhetorical questions such as "Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?" (v. 33). Behind those questions was the fact that there was one who did hold that power and that one had chosen out of freedom to address Job. The first part of our struggle to answer the question of why evil and suffering exist in this life is the belief that there is someone who is in charge and evil does not have free range.
Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35c
You set the earth on its foundations, so that it shall never be shaken.
-- Psalm 104:5
This psalm is a celebration of God as creator and provider for all of creation. The verses that we read celebrate the cosmic dimensions of God's creative care. Other verses celebrated how God had ordered this universe so that water was available for the wild animals and "plants for people to use to bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the human heart ..." (vv. 14-15). This was a rehearsal of the greatness of the creator and the care with which God had ordered the forces of this universe to provide for life in all its forms.
Sometimes we take the nature of our universe as a given and forget how intricately interwoven creation is. For the psalmist, a close observation of life around us cannot help but cause us to burst forth in a song of praise. "Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty, wrapped in light as with a garment" (vv. 1-2). It is so easy to become consumed by our immediate problems that we forget the grandeur of creation. This psalm, and others like it, could serve as a valuable reminder to the congregation of faith that we daily live in the presence of expressions of the majesty of God.
Creation is not immortal. It depends on God's sustaining care and our recognition of its giftedness. We daily live in need of offering our thanks to God. "O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures" (v. 24).
Hebrews 5:1-10
In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.
-- Hebrews 5:7
Unless the author is drawing upon traditions that have since been lost, he must be referring to Jesus' prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane prior to his arrest. Luke records that his anguish was so great that "sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground" (Luke 22:44). Yet, even in that anguish, he could both acknowledge his desire to escape the cross and his willingness to submit to the higher will of God.
Hebrews reported that "he was heard because of his reverent submission." The human Jesus achieved his purpose because he was willing to learn "obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him ..." (vv. 8-9). While it is natural to want to avoid suffering, as Jesus demonstrated through his prayers, it is through trusting God in the midst of suffering that one perfects one's faith. There is no evidence that Jesus sought out suffering as some noble pursuit, but it is clear that when suffering was thrust upon him, he did not turn away from God but rather sought to trust God in the midst of the experience.
Mark 10:35-45
You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.
-- Mark 10:42b-44
Jockeying for positions of prominence seemed to be a favorite pastime of the disciples, as Mark described it. Whether it is members or pastors, that game seems to be a continuing facet of church life. We never seem to be able to get this power thing right in the church. It is not as if Jesus was vague about how we should behave. Both by his words and by his actions we are clearly told that "... the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (v. 45). Each time Mark described Jesus as trying to prepare his disciples for his death and resurrection, they reacted by trying to maneuver for leadership positions. The first time in Mark 8:31 ff, after he told them of his coming fate, Peter immediately assumed the position of spokesman and tried to dissuade him of taking actions that would lead to his death. The next time he told them of his coming death in Mark 9:30 ff, the disciples reacted by arguing about who was the greatest. In Mark 10: 32 ff, he tells them for a third time, and immediately James and John approached him about securing positions of power in the coming kingdom.
The first time, Jesus tried to tell the disciples and the crowd that true discipleship did not mean positions of leadership but the willingness to take up your cross and forsake the normal pursuits of life. The second time, he tried to illustrate by taking a child among them and suggest that "whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all" (Mark 9:35). In this passage, he compares what they want to the tyrants among the pagan Gentiles. The continual struggle within the Christian community is not discovering the proper approach to attract new members but discovering the proper humility to become servants one of another.
Each time a person or a community imitates Jesus' ministry of servanthood, people are attracted to the community of faith.
